


Don't read

by Soft_dreams



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Highschool AU, M/M, Mute!John
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-10
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-15 07:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1295971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soft_dreams/pseuds/Soft_dreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I don't know how long it will take for chapter three but if things are going well it should be a few days.</p>
<p> Update: sorry guys i really did plan on finishing up chapter three but things came up<br/>im working on it dont worry<br/>im also working on a back story for dave so keep an eye out for that coming up soon</p></blockquote>





	1. scribbled notes

It's 7th hour, the end of the day.  
Thank god for that, you've been zoning in and out for the last three classes. You can't tell if it's because you're sick or stayed up too late last night. You haven't gotten much sleep in the past few weeks and when you did get some shut eye it was anything but restful. What normally happened was that you stayed up until one or two am and cried to the point of exhaustion, then passed the fuck out.

You pull out your planner and copy down the objectives, its like teachers think you'll actually remember to do your work because you wrote it down.  
No one has a planner that says check your planner so it's kind of useless if you just fill it out for a grade. Today's Friday, you don't know why that didn't hit you until now, maybe you've just been too tired, you finish filling out your planner  
(test next Friday- class anatomy and physiology, etc.)  
and close it.

There's a new student in class, and you're the only person with no table mate. You like to keep it that way but now with the class at it max population that's impossible.  
A kid with short messy black hair sits down next to you and smiles. you nod and put your planner aside.

Through out class the kid glances over at you, he's quiet and the way he snaps his eyes away and plays innocent is pretty adorable.

You assume he's doing it because of your shades.

You get away with wearing them because you've brought in several doctors notices from several doctors saying that your eyes are just far too sensitive to light, your brother's were too.

You glance over at him without letting him know this time, no slight movement of the head or shift of the body to alert him. As you gaze at him out of the corner of your eye you can't help but get distracted by his eyes. They're the brightest blue you've ever seen, a rich baby blue that can be seen from the other end of the school. You can imagine that he gets a lot of shit for them, he should just wear colored contacts like you do.

After studying him a while longer you start to notice other things like his gentle hands, you can tell that he plays piano, the way he holds himself when sitting, the positioning of his hand even the lack of calluses on the heel of his palm.

His handwriting is down right godly, you have chicken scratch in comparison and you always thought your hand writing was good.

You whisper him a question about what the teacher said and he writes down a note. You figure he doesn't want to get in trouble his first day of anatomy and physiology, there are rumors that the teacher beat a kid back in '07 that scared you the first day.

You inspect the kid's notebook, he writes a lot. When you say a lot you mean like at least three pages a class, okay that was an assumption on your part. You don't understand how he has time to pass notes and take class notes. He looks up at you, or maybe he's been looking at you and you just didn't notice. 

Somewhere along the lines you must have turned to watch him,or forgotten to turn back to the board, probably when he was writing, and he must have noticed.  
You feel warmth rush to your cheeks and you turn away.

He fucking smirks that asshole.

It's the first day he's here and you're already swooning over this doofy kid. The bell rings, you pack up and leave after everyone else.

For someone who's always excited for Fridays you're never the first out and, from the looks of it, neither is the new kid.  
  
You think about chatting him up, asking his name; favorite colour; star sign. You smirk to yourself and fuck, he noticed.   
He walks up to you with his notebook in hand, then before you really understand what's going on he hands you his notebook. 

And written out on his notebook in his beautiful handwriting  
  
"my name's John, and uh.. i don't really know how to hold conversation with people, er.. start conversation with people really."  
  
You smirk and answer out loud  
  
"names dave nice to meet you john"  
  
He smiles and starts writing again.  
You kinda give him a weird look and he takes notice,  
erases what he had and writes something new.  
  
"i'm uh, mute.. and i didn't think you knew ASL, that's why i'm writing notes. the teacher said that when i came in."  
  
You read it and, well you down right blush. how could you not have hear her say john was mute, do you really zone out that much? obviously you do. John chuckles a bit. Great, your first impression on him is not what you wanted at all. You tell him that you have to head out, your foster parents can be real assholes if you're late coming home from school.  
  
He nods and writes out a quick note that says something along the lines of "see you next week!" and you smirk then leave. You go to your locker and grab your textbooks for the 8 hours of homework you have then out to your car.

In the peace and quiet of your own car you turn on the music and fucking full on smile, you don't know why you're so happy-  
okay that's a lie you know exactly why you're so happy but are you going to admit it?  
hell no. not out loud.    
you turn up your music and sing along as you drive home.

Your name is Dave Strider and you think you're in love.


	2. excursions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how long it will take for chapter three but if things are going well it should be a few days.
> 
> Update: sorry guys i really did plan on finishing up chapter three but things came up  
> im working on it dont worry  
> im also working on a back story for dave so keep an eye out for that coming up soon

==>  
Your name is john and you're waiting for the bus, today you had class with Dave. You don't know much about him but you'd really like to become close friends.  
Honestly fitting in at this school should be a breeze, or it would be if the school had a translator, it's hard to write down notes fast and then you're expected to do board work, even if you have no idea on what's going on and you can't really 'ask' for help. You're just hoping that soon someone will learn ASL and help your poor mute butt.

Someone bumps into you, great there goes your textbook, at least it isn't muddy out today. You kneel down and grab your book, and someone pushes you again. this time you're pretty angry, you look up with rage filled eyes, then cower when you realize who it is, or better yet what it is.  
It's a football player, 6'4" and roughly 300 pounds you're not sure what position he plays or his name, all you know is that he's a threat, just like at your last school.  
Just like at every school.

he looks down at you and, surprisingly enough offers you a hand up, You take it hesitantly. After being helped up he gets your book for you too. Maybe he's not that bad?  
A deep booming voice comes from him and it's almost enough to make you jump,

"sorry about that! i didn't see you down there. are you alright?"

You nod and take your book back from him, then dust off your pants.  
First day and you're already scraped up, hopefully your dad won't get too worried. It was just an accident after all.  
You head off to the bus, not trying to be rude to the guy who just helped you, you just didn't really have a way to thank him.  
Even if he knew ASL there was no way in hell you were going to sign thank you, that would get your ass beat in flat second.  
You learned that the hard way.

You get crowded into the bus by a herd of teens and more or less pushed into a seat. Alright well, you don't live that far away,it will be fine.  
Your bus finally arrives and you get off and head to your house.  
Things sure are a lot more different here then they were back in Washington, the days are hotter and you personally believe they're much longer.  
After unlocking the front door you head in and slam your backpack down with a loud thunk against the cool marble top of your kitchen counter.

You head upstairs to change into something more comfortable.

You've had to adapt a whole new wardrobe just to keep cool in this weather but it really hasn't helped much.  
You've considered wearing shorts but, between you being uncomfortable with leg hair and it not being socially acceptable for men to shave, shorts are just not an option in your wardrobe anymore.  
And when it comes to pants, blue jeans make you feel like a cowboy and skinny jeans make you feel like a douche.

You settle for ghostbusters boxers and a tank top.

A few hours later your dad comes home and checks in on you, he notices that you scraped your knee but doesn't throw too big of a fit. He checks to make sure you've done your homework and then heads downstairs to make dinner, leaving you alone to your thoughts.  
Quite frankly you don't give much thought to a lot of things. You get up and head to your computer, log on and get online.

Maybe someone posted something in one of your forums, you don't actually care if they did, but you're bored.

You start to think about Dave.  
  
You don't know why, it just kind of happens. You think about his shades and how he got away with wearing them in class, he must think he's hot shit, maybe he is hot shit. You really don't know him at all, and won't be able to get to know him better until Monday.  
  
fuck Mondays a long way away.  
  
you toss your arms back and close your eyes, slowly drifting to sleep, who knows maybe you can sleep until Monday.

 

It's Saturday around noon and no, you couldn't sleep until Monday. Your dad prevented you from your eternal slumber.  
He wanted you to go shopping with him, ensuring there would be something in it for you if you went with him, a tactic he's used since you were 6 years old.

So here you are, just woken up, walking through Walmart, your permanent bedhead sprouting up. You yawn and sign to your dad for some coffee money, then head to the McDonald's in the store.  
You stand at the counter and realize that since its 12:45pm they aren't serving hot coffee, you ponder what to order and then it hits you.

How the fuck are you going to order?

Probably no one that works there knows ASL or will care enough to take your order that way.

You groan a breathy disheartened groan and go to turn away, smacking straight on into the person behind you. you frantically try to apologize in sign and then you notice who it is. it's the football player from yesterday and from the looks of it his girlfriend and his other friends are with him too, and they don't like that you bumped into him.

You duck, cover and run as fast as you can out of there, then make your way to the frozen foods aisle before you run into someone again. You really need to watch where you're going.

At least this time it's Dave.

Wait, fuck it's Dave, what is he doing here?

Okay that was kind of a stupid question but, what was he doing here specifically, in this aisle that you were trying to flee for your life in?

he smirks at you and helps you up off the cold tile floor.

"you said you'd see me next week as i recall  
don't tell me you're a liar john  
that would just be heart breaking"

You chuckle a little, but when you hear three booming voices an aisle over you remember the impending doom you're in. you try your best to excuse yourself before hurrying off to find your dad, leaving dave horribly confused.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im getting to a point were i need help with the chapters  
> if theres anything you want to see or something of the sorts please message me on tumblr  
> my url is  
> quirkydirky.tumblr.com

You think back to Saturday when your breakfast run was interrupted, you were just minding your own business when you were rammed into by john  
  
he was frantically signing to you  
  
or at least you think it was sign.  
  
You wonder if hes always been mute or if he was in an accident.  
You'll ask him eventually.  
  
After your morning shower you get out and get ready for school.  
  
Fantastic  
  
You're down to graphic tees and jeans that are far too tight.  
  
Looks like you're wearing your Punisher shirt, which was _strictly_ meant for sleepwear, and black jeans.  
 You look like a fucking tool.   
  
You get your backpack and head out to your car.  
   leaving for school at 6:30.  
this gives you an hour to do homework, eat breakfast and nap.   
  
On your way you see john walking and he doesn't look too good.  
 You pull up next to him and roll down your window.  
  
"john! you need a ride?"  
  
  
He looks up and smiles then heads over to your car, you unlock the door and he gets in.  
  
  
"everything okay? you're looking kinda blue."   
  
  
John shrugs and coughs ever so slightly,covering his mouth as he does so.  
 It's raspy and stiff but is some how so much more cool than you thought it would be.  
  
Somewhere in your mental rambling you make a note on how nice john looks today, his hair is the perfect level of fluffy and that shirt really brings out blue in his eyes.  
  
You try to make small conversation with him and fail horribly  
turns out you really will need to learn ASL if you're going to be good friends with him.  
  
Once you've parked you promise to give him a ride home too and then you head off to the cafeteria to get breakfast.  
  
He follows.  
  
honestly you don't mind, he looked pretty freaked out the other day so you let him walk close to you, at least thats what you're going to say if anyone asks  
 you know that's not the case though.

In the line you ask him to teach you how to sign.  
  
He agrees and teaches you his name and then assigned you a name.  
  
Sort of like a group of signs that mean something rather than a spelt out version. You're still confused by it.

John moves his hand is a small flat "o" shape then brings it down and inch or so at an angle and opens his hand, then he brought his hand up to his glasses and nudged them forward.  
  
 _sun glasses._  
  
 that cheeky bastard.  
  
For the next three weeks things progressed like that,  
you picked him up; ate breakfast with him; learned some new signs and saw him again at lunch and 7th hour, then you guys went home.  
   
  
Its a wednesday now and god damn you can't believe you're doing this, it's been about and a four weeks since you met him and you have been glued to him.  
  
Every time you see him smile or hear his soft almost non-existent chuckle you get this feeling inside that's worse than the first day you met him.  
  
You show up on his doorstep and hesitate you want to ask him now but you haven't known him very long...  
  
You'll ask next week.  
  
You turn around and start walking home, once you get out on the sidewalk john opens his window  
 you know he would yell for you if he could  
  
 or you hope that he would.  
  
His front door opens and next thing you know hes holding on to your arm panting.  
  
You want to kiss his forehead and carry him so he can catch his breath.  
 you want to hold him close and never let him go.  
  
You look at him and smile.  
  
He signs to you _coffee_ and you nod then then agree to pay for him.  
  
He protests, its cute.  
  
You make it to the coffee shop and order for him  
he goes and gets a booth seat and stares out the window.  
  
its surprising nice out today  
you're considering getting your orders to go.  
  
maybe next time.  
  
When everything's said and done you're sitting at the table, looking into john's eyes.   
god you love him a lot.   
  
Hopefully next week you'll have the balls to ask him out. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting those details from John, hmmmm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry! I've been caught up with a lot of stuff lately. Now I'm out of school and pretty much free. Expect to see more upd8's.

You sit down across from him and hand him his coffee. He looked up at you and smiled.  
 John Egbert was going to be the death of you, he was the most perfect boy ever. He started to sign something to you, it was a little too fast and there were some words you didn't quite understand. You asked him to sign slower for you and then you could pick up enough words to understand what he was asking.   
  
Relationship advice.  
  
There was someone he liked, someone that made him flustered and make his perfect ASL jumble like a giddy schoolgirl with a crush on their best friend. You bit the inside of your cheek until you tasted blood, even after that, and tried to smile.  
   
 It wasn't easy to hold back your frustration. Who on earth could have attracted his attention? You Should be happy for him. You open your mouth about to ask what they're like but instead you wish him luck and sip your coffee.  
  
 You're sure that's not what he wanted, he made a disgruntled face and looked back out the window. After you finish your coffee you and John make eye contact, he got up and waited for you at the door.   
  
Smooth strider, piss off the only person you care about.  
  
You get up and start heading over to the door, your mind wonders off, thinking about who john could possible like.  
  
Probably some pretty girl, she'd be all over him.  
  
Why couldn't he just be gay? Then maybe you would have a better chance.  
  
You feel bad every time you think about him, in any way, you're just a good friend of his after all.  
  
He probably goes home and plays video games and doesn't think about you at all. You realize you were stopped in the middle of the walkway. You start walking to the door, you get lost in thought again but keep walking, only snapping out of your trance when john pulls on your arm, he's been trying to sign to you for the past few minutes.  
  
 _Are you mad at me?_   
  
You sigh and shake your head, _"No, I don't know what I am but its not mad."_ You signed, or tried to sign to him.  
  
John half smiled, he was relieved but still uneasy.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will edit this chapter and add more but it has been so long, I don't remember where I was going with this chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**== >**  
  
 Your name was John Egbert and you're afraid you fucked up.   
  
 Dave was acting really weird when you two went to get coffee, you realize that now that you're alone in your house.  
Your dad was out, probably at a business meeting or bar with a couple of friends.  
It was frustrating that you couldn't pin why Dave was being so weird, and not being able to talk to anyone about it didn't help.  
  
 You head up to your bathroom and strip down to your boxers, your legs were getting gross and too hairy for your liking. It was time to shave them. You reach over and grab the shaving cream and razor, clearing the overgrown mess of hair on your legs before taking off your boxers and getting into the shower.  
   
You don't like to think of yourself as high maintenance or prissy, hell you don't even like to think of yourself as metrosexual, you're probably as straight as can be aside from...well everything that makes you seem gay.  
  
 You take your time showering when you start to think about how upset dave was earlier, or perhaps discomfort? You shave your armpits, lucky you have no chest hair to speak of so you wont have to deal with that.  
 After you finish washing your hair you rinse off and get out, heading into you bedroom to dry off and change into your underwear.  
  
 You feared that perhaps you were too invasive earlier? Maybe you shouldn't have asked Dave about relationships? He just seemed like the kind of guy that had been in a lot of relationships, he would know how to deal with girls and girl things, apparently not.  
 You laid on your bed, looking up at your ceiling. You had a few paper cranes hanging from fishing line, it was a nice effect. You liked to watch them when you were stressed out.  
  
 Maybe you should just forget about the whole situation and just go on with your original plans. You stood up and headed over to your desk, pulling out a pen and paper. You would just write the girl you liked a letter.  
  
**\-- Dear Vriska,**  
  
_No no, that was too formal. she was a very informal kind of gal._  
  
**\--I wanted to know if there was anyone you liked?**  
  
_Jesus, John were you in the fourth grade?_  
  
**\--Vriska, from the moment I first laid eyes on you I was speechless.**  
  
 You chuckle at your own joke, yeah that one would work. You continued to write out the letter, the stuck it in an envelope. This was going to work, she was going to be all over you.  
 You were funny, cute, mute. Yeah this was great, maybe she knew asl too? That would be super cool.  
You lay down on your bed and smile before taking off your glasses and falling asleep.  
  
You'd give her the letter tomorrow.  
  
  
**== >**  
  
 Your name is Dave Strider and you're afraid you fucked up.  
  
Like seriously fucked up. What if John was going to date some douchebag and he didn't even know?  
Then again you probably weren't a better candidate, it still pissed you off that you don't even know who it was.   
  
God, you were going to lose sleep over this.  
  
 You stayed up pretty late trying to figure out it who it could be, who had he come in contact with? then you realized that out only see him when you take him to school, lunch, 7th hour and when you take him home.  
You laid your head down and gave up, there was no point.  
 You knew it wasn't you because he wasn't clingy enough. That was something all the female 'friends' you had did. They apparently couldn't pick up on the super gay vibes.  
  
 It wasn't long before your alarm clock went off, you must have fallen asleep somewhere in between hating every girl in the school and hating yourself for thinking you had a chance.  
 You get dressed and make yourself some coffee before grabbing your homework and heading out the door. You pull up to John's house and knock on the door, just like you'd done for weeks.  
  
No response.  
  
 Maybe he was still asleep? You knock again and still nothing. You decide to wait in your car.  
He normally doesn't take this long. After the clock rolled to 7:00am you knew he wasn't coming out. You can't believe you actually waited for him for half an hour.   
  
He better have a damn good explanation when you get to school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow sorry this took so long. I'm going to write up another chapter and post it @ a later date. I forgot how much I loved these lil fuckers.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BET YOU THOUGHT YOU'D SEEN THE LAST OF ME.

==>   
  
 Your name is Dave Strider and you've just watched some shit go down.  
  
 It's an average late breakfast for you, apple juice and a bag of doritos from the vending machine, as you hang around the commons looking for your meek prince charming of bucktooth land, and boy fucking howdy if you didn't just see some shit. Some fake ass bitch just pushed a kid with crutches down the stairs. It's amazing the things you see at this school.   
  
 Unfortunately you're seeing a surprising lack of supreme king egbooty and you're starting to worry. The twerp has your number... probably... or at least your pesterchum? Shit. You realize that you made a huge flaw in your giddiness, to make amends for your bullshit over eager sins you go to your very own info-chan.    
  
 "Roooooooooooooooooose." Your voice groans out in belted broken cracks, like nails on the chalkboard of puberty. "Rose, baby. Speak to me. Tell me you have John's number." at this point you're practically laying on the table between Rose, Kanaya, Shouty and Jade. Shouty seemed a little out of place here but you're perfectly alright with it.   
  
 "Which John, Dave? John happens to be one of the most popular names in our generation, need I remind you that this school has a rough population of two thousand kids? What percentage of those thousands of people might possibly be named John, hmm?"   
  
 "Oh my god, Rose. It's far too fucking early and this is far too fucking important. John Egbert? Kinda short, black messy hair? blue eyes? usually always right next to me?"  
   
she tapped a finger to her chin, as if she was pretending to think on it.  
  
 "No idea, I don't think I've ever talked to him." She chuckled and poked at the mess of cafeteria breakfast, before taking some of Kanaya's fruit.   
  
"Well it would be kinda hard to, seein' as he's mute." you throw it out there, might as well. It's just sassy and bitter enough.   
"Oh. Hmmm." She went back to that 'thinking' face but never got back to you.  
  
"WHY DO YOU NEED HIS NUMBER IF HE'S ALWAYS RIGHT NEXT TO YOU? SHOULDN'T YOU HAVE IT BY NOW?"   
   
 Shit, shouty had a point. You raise a finger but put it back down, grumbling to yourself, "Yeah, guess I ought to" then shove your hands in your pockets and get off the table. "Welp, I oughta check his locker... Who knows."   
  
 "Good Luck, Dave." Kanaya finally spoke up.  
 She meant well, even if she didn't always talk to you, she was just... new to this country and this way of living. You can't hold it against her though, you CAN however, hold it against rose. She had no excuse, you start to think maybe it's time for a new info-chan.   
  
  
==>   
    
 Your name is John Egbert and you're having a horrible time.  
  
 You originally planned to slip the note into Vriska's locker but, well, she walked up on you trying to do that... so you just sort of handed it to her. She smirked. You we're totally sure if it was a good smirk or not.   
  
 Things are quiet and for the first time in a long time, the silence is suffocating. You wait, shaking with nervous anticipation as she read over your note, until she looks up at you and flicks the note back. She apologizes, for what it's worth, but says that she doesn't know ASL and doesn't plan to invest that much time and effort into a kid she doesn't know. heh. figures as much.   
  
 You really should have seen that one coming. You head back to your locker in order to get your things for class, but just lean up against it instead, your forehead pressed to the cold metal. You slide down and curl in around your knees letting out soft choked sobs. each one wracks your chest, shaking your whole body but, with each tear that rolls off your cheek and hits your hand, you can't help but to cry more. You tense up when you see a pair of shoes next to you. Oh no. Oh goodness no. Those certainly weren't Dave's shoes. You quickly jerked your head up and looked at the person next to you, oh. It's that football player that you ran into a while ago.   
  
"Um, are you alright?"   
  
 You wipe your face and nod, looking sheepish as always.   
  
"saw your little blowout back there, that's harsh man. It's not your fault you can't talk."   
  
 You're...confused...  
last time you saw this guy his friends came chasing you down so, why on earth was he being nice to you right now? This was uncomfortable. You curl back in on yourself.  
  
 "I really did want to apologize for what happened at the grocery store, I don't really have any control over those guys. Name's Kevin, Kevin Land."   
   He leaned down, pressing his arm against the locker above John.  "If you ever need anything you can come to me, I'm really not that bad of a guy. And hey, don't be too hard on yourself about getting rejected. Anyone who's not willing to at least try to learn something new isn't worth your time. You'll find someone better. Good luck, John."   
you looked up at him, your crying had stopped completely. He knew your name, why did he know your name? You didn't even know his name. You wish you could talk so you could ask him more, so you could talk to him at the very least.   
  
 In your daze you didn't even hear the footsteps coming up from behind you, you barely even noticed the booming voice that belonged to none other than one very pissed off and confused Dave Strider, and you barely have time to stand up and block the misguided punch.. unfortunately you blocked it with your face.  
  
 The blow set your glasses flying, sent Kevin off to grab them and make sure they were okay and sent Dave sinking to his knees.   
  
 _'Dave what the fuck, you asshole. Do you make a habit of punching random people??'_  your eyebrows were knitted tighter than one of nana's scarves, furrowed and disgruntled.    
  
 He couldn't speak.....you can't blame him.  He probably can't ever read your sign with how dazed he is, after all he did just give his best friend a black eye.   
 You sigh and kneel down in front of him. _'it's okay. it's okay.'_ you just keep signing that until he nods, until you know that he knows.  Kevin handed you your glasses and excused himself.   
  
 Jesus, today just started and you're already not having a good time.  


End file.
